The Gem – Moth of the Moment

It’s cold, breezy, drizzly – standard weather for an evening in early November just outside Cambridge. But, the moth trap is on and there’s been an early visitor – The Gem. A small brown moth, one of the geometers, which they know as inchworms in the US. This species is not common in the UK. It arrives from The Continent, or more specifically Southern Europe or North Africa. This specimen of Nycterosea obstipata, a female, had lots of scales missing from its wings and if it could be described as looking shell-shocked, then it indeed was. There is some chance that it was the offspring of Gem parents that arrived in Cambridgeshire during the summer and bred successfully. However, it is very unlikely to survive the winter here, so sadly this is the end of the line for this moth whether it is a local or a migrant.

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